China's EV makers can't follow Japan's 'flying geese' offshoring strategy

Alicia Garcia-Herrero is chief economist for Asia-Pacific at investment bank Natixis in Hong Kong and senior research fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based economic think tank.

From being a laggard in the combustion engine industry, China has moved to poll position both in the production and consumption of electric vehicles. How it got there is a combination of industrial policy, hard work, a competitive environment, and technological transfer from foreign companies in exchange for market access.